


The Mo(u)rning Melody

by littlesaintmick



Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: M/M, SHIELD feelings, There's a Sex Scene in there, i really don't know how to tag this honest to god, in character fic, oh boy, oh boy where do i even start with this one, okay, sad boy seth rollins, semi-graphic to somewhat graphic depictions of abuse, that's an important thing to mention, uhhh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-13
Updated: 2020-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:22:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23126218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlesaintmick/pseuds/littlesaintmick
Summary: a rainy night and a long highway and you meet someone you know for the first time.
Relationships: Dean Ambrose | Jon Moxley/Roman Reigns, Finn Balor | Prince Devitt/Seth Rollins | Tyler Black
Comments: 16
Kudos: 37





	The Mo(u)rning Melody

**Author's Note:**

> so i've had the basic idea of this for a long time but i guess i kinda just threw that in a garbage disposal and then threw that in a bowl and called it ratatoullie. i truly don't know what the fuck's going on with this goddamn thing. it's amateur and weird and disjointed but hey, it's here! it's a lot!
> 
> YOU DO NOT HAVE PERMISSION TO POST/REPOST ANY OF THIS FAN WORK, FULL OR IN PART, OR TO USE IT IN VIDEO/DISCUSSION, WHETHER FOR MONETARY GAIN OR NOT. LEGAL ACTION WILL BE TAKEN AGAINST VIOLATIONS.

Roman leaned forward a little. He hated driving in the rain, but Dean hated it more, so even though it had been Dean’s turn to drive, Roman was behind the wheel, his glasses high on his nose. Dean was anxious in the passenger seat and thankfully not trying to hide it; after all this time, Roman didn’t want Dean to hide his negative feelings. Especially not now. Roman sighed. 

“We’re almost there, bud. I think it’s only ten or fifteen more minutes-maybe twenty if this rain doesn’t let up soon-”   
“I know, I know-”

Dean was chewing on his thumbnail, his eyes darting from his window to the front window. 

“-just don’t like the rain like this.”

Roman frowned, quickly reaching over and squeezing Dean’s free hand, until Dean squeezed back, before returning it to the wheel. 

“Why don’t you-”

“What is that?”

Roman slowed down-Dean had such good eyes in the dark-and they pulled over at the sight of a car that had...not ‘crashed’, but definitely slid away from the road. It was a fancy car and looked more for show than substantial driving, and Roman pulled his glasses off, grabbed his jacket and put it on before he and Dean left their car. It was raining terribly as he knocked on the driver’s side window, Dean inspecting the car all around for damage. 

“Hey! Are you okay?!”

Roman had to raise his voice, and a spring of lightning lit the window enough for him to see through it for a brief few seconds. And Roman thought it was just his luck. 

“Seth?”

His voice was too quiet when he said it, and then the door was opening and Seth was sitting there, his hair pulled back in the messy way he did when he was nervous, and Dean groaned.

“Fuckin’  _ really _ ?”

The ‘really’ sounded high and scratchy at the end and Roman sighed. Seth was looking at the both of them, scared and he had every reason to be. Not that Roman was in the mood to fight. Dean might be, because Dean always had a little in the tank to go at Seth, but Roman just sighed.

“What happened?”

Seth turned his body to face them. 

“I-a deer ran out in front of me and I-I didn’t hit it but I don’t-I guess I stopped the car before it crashed-”

“You know you’re terrible about driving in the rain, why are you out here by yourself?”

“Yeah, haven’t mommy and daddy hired a personal driver for you yet?”

Roman would have scolded Dean, but...well. He was too tired for a fight and he was too tired to referee that.

“...no, they haven’t, and I told them I didn’t wanna drive in the storm, but-”

He went quiet after that, his hair hanging down in his face, that and his clothes now soaked through from the harsh rain. Roman sighed through his nose and scrubbed his hands over his face. 

“Have you called them?”

“Yeah. They told me they’d send someone.”

“Good.”

“...two hours ago…”

Fuckin’ really.

Roman pinched at the bridge of his nose. 

“Okay. Okay. Are you being serious? No bullshit, this isn’t a setup to jump us?”

“The Authority is well-coordinated, but we’re not  _ that  _ good.”

Roman stared at Seth, and Seth dropped his head. 

“I hope that deer is okay.”

Fuck.

“Get in the car.”

Seth’s head snapped up.

“Wh-really?”

“Yes. Come on. Our hotel isn’t too far away. Where is yours?”

Seth looked a lot like someone had kicked his dog.

“I...don’t have one. I was supposed to go to the airport.”

Roman and Dean wondered what they had done in a past life or this life to deserve this. Dean groaned. 

“Godd-okay-come on, get your shit, hurry up-hate being in this fucking rain-Rome, I’m going back to the car-”

Roman nodded and watched Dean storm off, the passenger door slamming loudly against the patter of rain on asphalt. He turned back to look at Seth, who was still sitting, shocked and wide-eyed.

“Well? I imagine he’ll get impatient soon.”

He watched the younger man scramble to get everything, then, and he didn’t help him pack his bags into their car. Soon enough Seth was in the backseat, quiet, with his head down, and Dean had his arms crossed tight, refusing to look anywhere but at his window. Roman sighed, tense and uncomfortable and knowing that despite all those feelings, this was the right thing to do. He drove the rest of the way to the hotel, all three men in the car silent and not acknowledging the other.

\---

Roman tossed his air mattress and a pillow over to where Seth was awkwardly standing near the door. 

“Here. It’s pretty comfortable. The front desk said they’ll bring extra blankets in a few minutes.”

Seth didn’t speak as he set up his bed, and Dean still wouldn’t look at him, or Roman, and the latter hurt Roman a little. He breathed heavily through his nose and rummaged through his and Dean’s bags, pulling out clean, dry clothes, and he grabbed Dean’s hand, pulling him into the bathroom. Dean worriedly looked at the closed door, then, finally, at Roman. 

“We shouldn’t leave him out there alone.”

“I know. But me and you need a minute.”

He pulled his own shirt off and then his shoes and socks and then his jeans and boxers, leaving himself bared to Dean. Not for anything sexual, just because he wanted to be like this with Dean for at least a moment. They wouldn’t be able to really...do anything tonight, with Seth there; no one knew about how their relationship had developed (well, except for Ron, who had walked in on them kissing in an empty part of an arena, but Ron was trustworthy and kind and he had just hugged them both and smiled that real big smile of his and told them it was nice to see). Dean’s lips parted just a little looking at Roman, and his cheeks turned pink, and he stripped, fast and a little clumsy like he did things, and Roman grinned, pressing up against him and helping him work his way out of the clothing. Roman leaned in and kissed him, over and over, humming and Dean grabbed at Roman, his hands considering a lot of places before he settled on Roman’s hair, petting him and making contented little noises into Roman’s mouth. 

Pulling away was difficult and Roman didn’t want to do it, but they couldn’t stay in here for too long. He reached up, gripping Dean’s chin with his fingers while the pad of his thumb rubbed at Dean’s lip, pulling it down just a little. 

“I love you.”

“I love you too...maybe we can do a little bit more of this later.”

Roman grinned, hugging Dean and keeping his forehead pressed against his. 

“Maybe. Not as much as I’d want.”

“Mmm. Me neither.”

“Let’s get dressed. We can shower in the morning.”

They pulled away from each other with a lot of difficulty and Dean pulled on the comfortable clothes Roman had grabbed for him, and Roman just had to wrap his arms around Dean’s waist again and hold him close, and Dean smiled and squirmed a little, doing what Roman had told him was called ‘stimming’, flapping his hands against Roman’s chest. He had been really happy when Dean had started to be more open about things like that, things he needed to do and wanted to do because of what went on in his head. Roman leaned forward and nuzzled Dean’s cheek, pressing their noses together until Dean made a happy sound. 

“Mm-might...might not be able to talk a lot tonight cause of…”

“Too much, with Seth being here?”

Dean nodded. Roman understood. Another thing Dean had been open about was telling Roman that sometimes, if he was overwhelmed or upset, he couldn’t make himself speak. Roman was okay with that, as long as Dean was by his side. He set Dean down and they left the bathroom, to see Seth plugging in his charger, having gotten the extra blankets and an extra pillow from the staff. He had moved the air mattress to a corner far away from the actual bed, which Roman was happy with. He didn’t want Seth particularly near them. Roman plugged in his and Dean’s phones and set their alarms for the morning, and he got into bed after Dean did. He didn’t worry about Seth wondering anything about that; the Shield shared many beds during their years of traveling together, usually because it was either the cheapest option or because it was the only room left available. Roman turned the lights off and settled in, listening to the rain outside. He closed his eyes and felt something tug at his hand. He couldn’t keep away the grin on his face, and he supposed that was okay in the dark as they were, and he reached out, wrapping his arms around Dean. Roman had known Dean would need that tonight, as he really, really didn’t like the rain, and Roman would be damned if he let Seth’s presence make Dean any more uncomfortable than it already had. He smiled as Dean snuggled up against him, hiding against Roman like he did on bad nights, or like Roman did...most nights, really. 

They liked to lay in bed every night and hide with each other, away from the world and what hurt them. It was comforting and healing and nice, and it was tonight, as Roman tightened his arms around Dean when the thunder cracked outside. He kept his voice low, murmuring just against Dean’s hair. 

“It’s okay. I’m right here, nothing will happen to you while I’m here. You’re safe from the storm, you’re safe and warm right here with me. I’ll keep you safe.”

He wanted to say ‘I love you’, so badly and over and over and over again, he wanted to say that until his throat was tired and dry and until he fell asleep with those words on his lips, but he couldn’t risk it with their unexpected guest. Dean, however, seemed to understand that unspoken thing, and he pressed even impossibly closer, pushing up against Roman’s front, pressing just a small kiss to Roman’s neck. He tapped his hands against Roman’s back and curled his fingers up in his shirt, moving his feet back and forth, before stretching and sighing. Roman knew that meant Dean was feeling more safe and secure and calm, which made Roman happy. He kissed Dean’s hair again and sighed through his nose, bringing one hand up to cup the back of Dean’s head, holding him close. 

The storm continued on, worse by the minute, and Roman was surprised with how calm Dean stayed, but frowned at the sound of sniffling coming from the corner. He stayed in bed, waiting to see if it stopped, but it didn’t. It only sounded like Seth was trying to cover up the noise more and more. Roman waited a few more minutes, before sighing, squeezing Dean, kissing his hair and sitting up. 

“Seth?”

“Sorry-I’ll shut up-”

Roman sighed again and reached over, turning on the light. He looked over at Seth, who was facing the wall. 

“What’s wrong?”

“Why are you asking?”

“Because you’re laying there crying in the corner and I can count the amount of times on both hands that I’ve seen you cry.”

“It’s-it’s just been a long night, that’s all-”

“You can tell me. I don’t care what happened a few months ago, I’m not an asshole. If you need to talk or say something, then say it.”

“...it doesn’t matter, it’s not a big deal-”

“Seth.”

His tone was authoritative, but he tried to keep it gentle. He genuinely wasn’t mad or irritated at Seth for crying, and he’d meant it when he’d said he wanted to help if Seth needed it. 

“I...Hunter texted me and-yelled at me for missing the flight, and I told him-I told him what happened on the road but-”

His voice broke a little. 

“-he said I should have just kept going, but-I was freaked out and didn’t feel like I could drive safely, he always expects me to be able to do everything and if I can’t, then him and Stephanie make me-”

Seth snapped his mouth shut and Roman frowned. Dean reached out and tugged at Roman’s hand. He turned to face him and leaned down. 

“Dean?”

Dean tugged on his hand again, but kept his face hidden. Roman realized what Dean needed and patted his thigh, and Dean wrapped his arms around Roman’s thigh, hugging against it and nuzzling his thigh. Roman petted his head and turned back to Seth. 

“Are they hurting you?”

“....no...not...not really.”

“Seth…”

“It’s not that bad, they only ever do what they do to make me better. Sometimes they don’t even do what they say they would, it’s just to make me stronger and better and smarter.”

“That’s word-for-word what abused people say, Seth.”

“It’s not that-they’re not doing that.”

Roman sighed. 

“Are you sure?”

Silence. Roman almost wanted to roll his eyes, not because of the situation Seth was in, but because the silent treatment was very common with the younger man. Whenever Seth didn’t like what someone said, he’d shut them out. 

“I don’t want to call you my friend, after what you did, but even after all that, I don’t think you deserve to be hurt like that. I care that someone might be hurting you. And I want you to know that whenever you finally realize what’s going on, and I hope you do realize it soon, that you can come to me and I’ll do what I can to help you. I’ll be here. You know that’s true.”

More silence, and Seth wrapped the blankets around himself tight, trying to hide in his own way. Roman shook his head and looked down at Dean. 

“Can you scoot back? I’m laying back down.”

Dean moved back to where he’d been, and Roman paused before turning the lights off. 

“Good night, Seth.”

He turned the lights off and got back under the covers, Dean scrambling to lay on top of him and cuddling up with him. Roman blinked, tired and ready to sleep. 

“Good night.”

He smiled at the sound of Seth’s voice in the dark, and Dean curled up on top of him, and Roman felt at peace for the moment. 

\---

Peace was always fleeting, as they woke up the next morning to the rain having turned to a terrible sleet, freezing over during the night. Roman hadn’t even been able to get the car door open. Everything was frozen outside, and none of the men in the room were happy about the cold or the fact that they were stuck together for the time being. Roman especially hated that they did have to get food, somehow, and trudging through the snow to whatever store was nearest definitely wasn’t how he wanted to spend his day. 

But there they were, putting on as many layers as they could stand to, all three of them miserably readying themselves to go. And it had to be all three of them, because there was no way Roman would leave Dean alone, nor leave Dean with Seth. There was a store not too far away, and the room did have a minifridge and a microwave, so they were lucky in those regards, as long as the power stayed on. Roman and Dean walked in front of Seth, carefully and slowly through the sleet and snow, until they got to the store. They all rushed through buying things, a few bags per arm per man, and Roman didn’t miss the small moment where Seth almost slipped and Dean caught him. 

The hotel room was blissfully warm and Roman shed his clothes and shoes and wet socks and even with how much had happened with Seth, he didn’t feel very vulnerable being so exposed in front of him. It maybe helped that Dean was very un-subtly trying not to stare at him, his blue eyes constantly glancing over to Roman, his cheeks pink and cute and Roman wanted so badly to kiss him. 

He was shocked out of thinking about kissing Dean until the redhead was breathless by the sound of Seth’s phone ringing. He turned and watched him answer, Seth’s face pale and set with worry. 

“H-Hi, Hunter…”

Roman frowned. He couldn’t hear what was being said on the other end, but Seth looked more and more upset, trying to get a few words in, but failing. 

“I-no, I-I found…”

Seth glanced at Roman and Dean.

“-um-there was a free hotel room...I’m just here by myself. I’m sorry-I am, I’m sorry, I didn’t-I didn’t wanna miss the flight-”

Seth winced. 

“-I really didn’t! I-”

His bottom lip was wobbly and he had tears in his eyes now. The one-sided phone call went on for another few minutes, until Seth was crying, sitting on the air mattress with his knees drawn up, and Roman and Dean tried to just go about their business, changing their clothes and finding places for the food. Roman sat on the bed as Seth got off the phone, and he bit his lip. 

“Are you okay?”

Seth shrugged his shoulders and hid his face in his arms, sniffling and clearly embarrassed. Roman sighed and came over to Seth-Dean was in the bathroom, so he wasn’t particularly worried about him not being happy about Roman’s willingness to help Seth. Roman sat on the air mattress next to him, mirroring Seth’s pose. 

“Does that happen a lot?”

Seth shrugged. 

“Kinda.”

“He doesn’t listen to you?”

Seth shook his head. 

“Says I need to just do what I’m told and everything will be okay. And-he’s not wrong, everything has been great since-”

Roman watched as Seth snapped his mouth shut and looked down at the cheap carpet. 

“Since you left us.”

Dean’s voice was quiet and cold and wavering just a little. Roman exhaled through his nose; this wasn’t easy for either of them. Any of them. Dean sat on the bed, getting under the blankets and wrapping them around himself. He didn’t hate the cold, but he hated being and feeling exposed, and Roman knew Dean was feeling that in droves with Seth stuck in the room with them. Roman stayed next to Seth, gently bumping his shoulder with his.

“Seth...I don’t think-I don’t think Dean feels the same way as me, and I know you probably won’t take the offer, but...you can still come back. To the Shield. To us.”

Seth’s eyes were wet and dripping tears and he set his mouth in a tight line. 

“I-I can’t, they want me to be better-”

“They don’t want you to be happy.”

Dean wasn’t even facing them, but his voice was clear. 

“They don’t want-people like that never want you to be actually happy, they only want you feelin’ good as long as they can control it. Second you start feeling good on your own, they beat you down. They make sure you’re only happy when they say you can be.”

There was a flat sadness to his tone, and Roman shut his eyes, taking a deep breath. He loved Dean so much and he hated to know that he’d been through such terrible, terrible things. 

“You’re being abused. Believe it or don’t. I don’t care. I’m just tellin’ you from experience-that’s what’s happening to you. Roman wants to help you? Cool. I won’t stop him. But leave me out of it.”

Roman frowned, but didn’t argue that. He didn’t want Dean to put himself through something that would hurt him more, he never wanted Dean to hurt at all, but that feeling extended, somehow, someway, to Seth as well. Maybe Roman was just a nice person or maybe he still loved Seth, but regardless of why, he wanted to help him. 

For now, though, he wanted to take a nap. 

“You can watch tv or something, I think me and Dean are gonna try and get some more sleep.”

Seth nodded and Roman hesitated before reaching his hand out and gently squeezing Seth’s shoulder, standing and heading to the bed. He pulled off his shirt and sweats, knowing his body heat would comfort Dean. He wormed his way into the blankets, right up behind Dean’s body. The lights in the room turned off and the curtains were shut, and Roman smiled. Dean curled up tighter, and Roman wrapped an arm around him, pulling him close. He thought that maybe it was risky being this affectionate in front of Seth, in front of someone who could use that information to hurt them, but damn it, Roman wanted to hold Dean. He wanted to kiss him and make love with him and to make him feel good, and he couldn’t do all of that right now, but he could do some of it. Roman listened to the sounds of Seth laying down on the air mattress, the tv turning on at a quiet volume, and Roman snuck a kiss onto the back of Dean’s neck, rubbing his fingers over the flat of Dean’s stomach, until he felt him relax against him. 

\---

Dinner was weird. 

Frozen meals and whatever fruit they’d been able to get, Roman and Dean sat on the bed and Seth on the air mattress, all three of them feeling an entirely too familiar familiarity with each other, with something like this. A night with the three of them just enjoying each other’s company and eating bad food and watching a reality competition show. Roman did turn his head to watch, fondly, as Dean ate almost half of a hot pocket in one bite. His lover was so cute. 

“Ooh-”

Seth snapped his mouth shut immediately after even that short expression of enthusiasm, and both of the other men in the room noticed. Roman quirked an eyebrow.

“Do you like that one?”

They were watching a show with tattoo artists competing and one piece of ink had been shown, and Roman remembered talking about tattoos with Seth quite often. Seth very suddenly wasn’t talking a lot.

“I think it’s cool. You ever thought about getting something in that style?”

Seth shrugged.

“Dunno...maybe. I’m not-”

He bit his lip and Roman didn’t press him.

“-not really allowed to get more tattoos.”

That made Roman angry. He could feel Dean tense next to him, and felt a pang of love knowing that as much as Dean didn’t like Seth, he still disliked injustice more. 

“You’re not allowed to get tattoos?”

Seth nervously peeled off the skin of an orange.

“Not really, Hunter and Stephanie said I should…’keep my current image’, or something like that?”

“So you said goodbye to us and your autonomy. That’s pretty fuckin’ neat.”

Dean was clearly mad about that tidbit, but Roman knew he was going to have a lot of difficulty responding in a way that wasn’t...aggressive, with Seth. Roman sighed and Dean did look ashamed, and Roman reached over and quickly squeezed his thigh. 

“Do they make you follow any other rules like that?”

Seth shrugged, still peeling off bits of the orange without eating it.

“Kinda. Gotta eat certain foods and work out the way they say. It’s all for a good reason, I wasn’t eating great before that, they told me so and got me a nutritionist and trainer so I’d look better-”

“Hey, hold the fuck up-me and Ro fed you good when we were together, the fuck are you talking about?”

The energy in the room was very different when Dean spoke, and Roman was wary, but let him speak. Seth frowned, his eyebrows tight and he glared up at Dean. 

“Just because we ate a lot doesn’t mean it was good. I shouldn’t even be eating this, it’s not on my list of food I can eat.”

“A fucking list? Are you serious?”

“It’s for my own good! Maybe if you two had ever just listened and joined them then-”

Seth stopped talking and his eyes went wide, his lips parted in shock-probably at himself for what he’d said. Roman grabbed Dean’s wrist, to calm him and ground him and keep him from leaping over the bed and mauling Seth. 

“I-I...I didn’t-”

“No, you did. You meant it.”

Dean’s hand was shaking. Roman laced their fingers together, letting Dean’s hand shake in his.

“You-you really think things would have been better for us, under the Authority? You really think I wouldn’t’ve gone off the deep end, gettin’ treated like that again-”

His voice broke on the last few words and Roman squeezed his hand, staring down at Seth. He exhaled heavily through his nose and shook his head. 

“Seth...this is why we’re saying they’re bad for you. Maybe...maybe we weren’t great for you, and that’s why you needed out, maybe you felt like we were hurting you, and if we were, I’m sorry-and I’m sorry that you’re going through what you’re going through, but Dean wouldn’t have survived that. Hunter and Stephanie would have put all three of us through-fucking conditioning or re-education, because they wanted us to be footsoldiers. They don’t care about you and they wouldn’t have cared about us. I don’t know-”

Roman took a deep breath and swallowed. 

“I don’t know what to do. I want to help you, but you don’t want to be helped. I...I still love you. I still love you a lot, I-you were family, you still are to me, and seeing this happen to family-I don’t know what to do.”

And it was understood throughout the room that that was the most difficult part of this for Roman. He’d always been able to handle what happened in his life-poverty, loss, pain-and even now, he was still playing mediator and being the mature, calm one between Seth and Dean. But he didn’t know how to handle Seth refusing to think about leaving the Authority. He didn’t know what to do with someone who was being hurt and didn’t believe it. Roman hated that he had to watch it happen, had to watch Seth become what he had, and he hated that it also had the horrible side effect of hurting Dean. 

Roman squeezed Dean’s hand again, and got a squeeze in return. Dean knew. He understood.

“I...you guys weren’t-you guys weren’t bad or-you didn’t hurt me-”

Seth’s eyes were downcast. Lot of uncomfortable feelings in the room tonight. 

“I never thought that. I just...guess I kinda-was just bein’ selfish. I tried to get them to take both of you too, so we could be together-I didn’t wanna leave you guys, but they said-they said a lot of things-”

Roman waited. Dean waited. Seth wiped at his eyes. 

“I wanted us to be together...they got me thinking neither of you wanted me around, and that-that I was making you guys hate me and that you two didn’t-I dunno, they told me lots of things and-I don’t know why I believed ‘em. Cause-they say a lot of mean things too, and you guys sometimes got onto me, but...you weren’t mean.”

Seth paused for a minute, shrugging his shoulders. 

“Miss being around people who aren’t mean to me.”

He looked up at Dean and Roman, biting his lip. 

“I’m...sorry.”

Roman let out a breath and Dean did, too. 

“I-no matter-even if I always stay with the Authority, I shouldn’t...I regret what I did to you two. I regret hurting you like I did. I shouldn’t-I should have just left, or told you, or done something-but I hurt you guys instead. I’m sorry I did that.”

Dean squeezed Roman’s hand. 

“Kinda hard to believe in any apologies.”

“I-I get that. I’m not-I don’t-I don’t ever really expect us to be...like we were, again, but-if we could-if-I don’t wanna hate you guys and I don’t want you to hate me. If-if maybe we could just do that, get to that point, then-that would be nice.”

Roman smiled, and laughed, and it was that sort of laugh when you’ve been shocked by something. 

“I-I can do that, at least. I’ve...I’ve been mad at you, I’ve been furious-for what you’ve been doing to Dean, mostly, but-I think I can get to that point with you.”

Dean pulled his hand away from Roman and went to the bathroom, shutting the door and locking it. Roman stood and followed him, because he was always following Dean, and he wouldn’t have life any other way. 

“Hey.”

The door unlocked and Roman stepped inside, locking it once he was in the bathroom. Dean was sitting against the tub, and Roman sat next to him in the crowded little area. 

“What’s going on?”

Dean had his knees brought up to his chest, and he was chewing on his thumb. 

“I-I don’t know how to feel right now-”

“That’s okay. You don’t have to know.”

They were both quiet for a minute.

“I missed him.”

Roman’s eyebrows shot up and he blinked at Dean. 

“You did?”

Dean nodded. 

“Y-yeah, I-I did, I missed him cause he was my friend and even after all that stupid shit-I wished he was back. And now-I don’t-I don’t know if I wanna be friends with him or something-”

“Hey, hey-c’mere, come here, baby-”

Roman held his arms open and Dean pushed himself into them, hiding his head in the juncture of Roman’s neck and shoulder. Roman held him tight and kissed his head, inhaling against his hair. 

“I love you. I love you so much-I love you so much, Dean-I know this is fucked up and hard for you-”

“That’s just-it’s been hard for him, too, if he’d just fuckin’-been honest-I woulda still had my friend-”

“I know, I know, baby-but-we have-we kinda have a chance to change that now, to-we could try and heal all that, and he wants to try-do you think you could...do you think you’d want to try?”

Dean sniffled and gripped Roman’s shirt in one fist.

“Maybe. He’s gotta do a lot of work, cause he’s the one who fucked up-but...I guess, a little bit. I don’t-I don’t want him with them anymore.”

“Me either.”

“They’re-they’re doing what-I don’t want anyone to go through that, even him, and-”

“I know. Maybe-maybe we can help him get out, away from them.”

Dean nuzzled him, breathing out a little puff of hot air on his skin that made Roman smile. 

“I wanna let go of...I wanna stop being mad at him and mad at-I’m tired of being mad at people.”

Roman kissed his head again and squeezed him. 

“I’m really proud of you, you know that, right? You always try so hard to be a better man.”

Dean wiggled in his hold and turned a little more towards Roman, leaning up and kissing Roman’s lips, moaning quietly, cupping Roman’s cheek in his hand, and Roman reached up and grabbed his wrist, kissing him back just as hard; this was all they’d been able to do, with Seth stuck with them in this-blizzard, according to the news. Roman had been going insane without being able to touch Dean and be touched by him, to kiss him nonstop and love on him. It was rough. Ever since they’d begun their relationship, they’d been constantly together and constantly affectionate, but they’d barely even been able to kiss the past two days. Roman didn’t fight it as Dean pushed him to lay down on the floor, getting between his legs. He knew they wouldn’t be able to get off, but a make-out session didn’t sound too bad right now. 

Roman let his hands go under Dean’s shirt, touching the soft, cold skin-Dean always ran cold, and Roman ran hot and he loved how they were exactly what the other needed. Dean made soft noises against his mouth, and he spread his legs more, letting Dean rut against him. Roman gripped at his waist and wished they could do more, have more time alone together. If it wasn’t so goddamn cold outside, he’d have suggested sex in the car while Seth slept, but neither of them could manage that in the cold weather.

Roman broke the kiss to breathe, bringing both hands up to stroke through Dean’s hair, a huge grin on his face. He laughed and Dean kissed all over his face, on his lips again, gently scratching and massaging Roman’s scalp. 

“I-I love you too, I-we need to find some time or somethin’-”

“I know-hopefully this storm blows through soon-”

Roman moved his arms to wrap around Dean’s waist, holding him tight and kissing his cute, stubbled, chubby cheek. 

“We gotta get back in there.”

“Do we?”

“Yes, baby.”

Dean made a dissatisfied noise and Roman sat up, grinning and standing with Dean in his arms. Dean didn’t always like to be carried or picked up, but sometimes he tolerated it. 

“You gonna be alright?”

Dean nodded, wrapping his arms around Roman’s shoulders, sighing and kissing him again. 

“Yeah. Think-think I’m gonna work on...letting go of stuff more now. If he really wants to try, I’ll try too.”

Roman leaned his forehead against Dean’s, and they sat there and breathed each other’s air for a long moment. 

“C’mon.”

They straightened out their clothes and left the bathroom, and Seth was still sitting on the air mattress, watching tv, and he blinked up at them. 

“I’m-I’m sorry if I upset you-”

Dean shook his head.

“Not right now. We can...we can talk later.”

It brought a small smile to Roman’s face to think about that. They all heated up more food and ate, Dean even-surprisingly-sharing his bag of miniature candy bars with Seth. 

\---

This was the absolute worst blizzard any of the three men had ever experienced. They’d been stuck in the hotel for four days now, and it had only just stopped snowing on the fourth day. They’d been exercising as much as they could in the limited space in the hotel, but Roman and Dean were getting...antsy. Roman had almost pounced on Dean in the morning and rode him until he couldn’t speak, but Seth had been in the room, and they still weren’t necessarily ready to let Seth know about that part of their relationship. 

But as they laid in bed, in nothing but their boxers and willpower, Roman was increasingly tempted. Dean was laying facing him, the two of them still awake and quietly talking, whispering, while Seth slept. Roman could feel just a little bit of Dean’s body against him, and Dean’s fingers were finding their way down Roman’s front, teasing at the front of his waistband. 

“Dean-”

“Please-need something-”

Roman held one finger to Dean’s lips, and they both listened-Seth was breathing evenly, and Roman nodded, Dean surging in to kiss him, tugging Roman’s boxers down and Roman did the same with Dean, just trying to get his lover uncovered, his fingers immediately wrapping around the soft length and pumping until it hardened in his hand. He moved quietly down the bed and wrapped his lips around the head of Dean’s cock; he wished they had time to really dedicate to this, to each other, to making each other feel good, but they didn’t. If quick relief was their only option, then that’s what they’d do. He reached one hand up and pressed his palm over Dean’s mouth, and Dean grabbed his wrist with one hand and his hair with the other, and Roman worked his mouth up and down, sucking hard on the thick flesh, smiling around it when Dean gathered up his hair and kept it out of his face. Roman pushed until Dean’s cock was all the way inside his mouth and breaching his throat, wrapping his fingers around the base and staying there. 

It was thick and hot and Roman wanted it inside him more, he wanted Dean inside him more, he wanted more and he couldn’t have it, but he could at least taste his lover and hope they could get away from this cramped hotel room soon. Roman shut his eyes and swallowed around the head, his own cock twitching and pulsing in his shorts, letting out a quiet moan-he knew he couldn’t be too loud, but he could afford one or two sounds while he enjoyed having Dean’s cock gently thrusting back and forth in his mouth. Dean tugged on his hair and Roman moved faster, both of them working to get Dean to come, and Roman let his teeth just barely press on the underside of Dean’s cock. That was all it took before Dean groaned against his hand, his come shooting down Roman’s throat. Roman swallowed all of it, humming softly and smiling, feeling happier than he’d felt since they’d been stuck here. 

He pulled off once he was finished swallowing, and he moved back up the bed, a big grin on his face as he pulled his hand away from Dean’s mouth and kissed him, letting Dean taste himself. Dean immediately wrapped his arms around Roman’s shoulders and kissed him back, before turning and laying with his back to Roman. He pulled Roman’s shorts down and guided his cock between his own thighs, and Roman smiled, pressing his face against Dean’s neck. He had Dean lick his hand and spit on it, spreading it all over his cock before sliding his cock between Dean’s thighs. Dean was squeezing them together tight, creating a slick, warm channel for Roman to fuck, and Roman had to turn his head against the pillow to keep himself quiet and muffled. It felt so good, after three days of nothing, and he grabbed Dean tight around the waist, driving his hips forward. They were both still trying to be quiet, trying to not wake the other man in the room, and it was hard to fight the urge to talk to Dean, to tell him how much he loved him and how good he made him feel and how much he wanted to fuck him proper. Roman focused on just trying to chase his orgasm, fucking between Dean’s thighs until he stilled, Dean catching Roman’s come in his hands. 

Roman caught his breath for a few minutes, and Dean shifted around, and Roman didn’t need to see it or hear it or feel it to know Dean was licking Roman’s come off his hands. He grinned and pulled his shorts back up, helping Dean with his and wrapping his arms around him, pulling him flush against his body. He mouthed the words ‘I love you’ against Dean’s cheek over and over, and Dean smiled, kissing him all over his face and on his lips. It wasn’t as much as either of them wanted, but they both knew it was enough. Roman fell asleep with Dean laying on top of him, unworried about the other man in the room.

\---

The snow and ice and sleet began to clear on the fifth day; enough for trucks to get out and about, but not for any flights to leave. They were going to be with Seth for a while longer, but Roman was starting to think that, apart from the inability of himself and Dean to satisfy some carnal desires, being stuck with Seth wasn’t actually a bad thing. It was giving the three of them time to reconnect and for Seth to heal what he’d hurt, and Roman was happy he and Dean seemed to have hit a stride where they weren’t attacking each other and Dean was more willing to talk to him. It...had been really nice. They still weren’t best friends, but they weren’t horrible enemies. Roman could only hope that that would keep getting better. 

Dean had actually managed to drive the car out to a restaurant to go get food-he’d desperately needed some time to himself, and Roman was happy to give him that-and it left him alone with Seth for a bit. He really had missed hanging out with him. They were both sitting on the actual bed, sharing microwave popcorn and watching a movie. Seth had been a little on the quiet side all day, and Roman had wanted to just do something relaxing. 

“Hey...uh…”

Roman turned his head to look at Seth, noticing a blush under his thick facial hair. 

“What’s up?”

Seth cleared his throat. Whatever he needed to talk about, he was clearly embarrassed about it. 

“Um...do you-last night were you and Dean having sex?”

Roman damn near choked on his popcorn. Seth at least smacked him on the back to help him not choke. Roman blushed pretty deeply himself and stared at Seth, trying to figure out a way to approach this. 

“I-what?”

Seth bit his lip, not meeting Roman’s eyes. 

“I-I was...I looked over and saw you guys-it kinda looked like…I didn’t know you guys were-”

Roman sighed. He always believed honesty was the way to go about things. He just hoped Dean wasn’t going to be mad at him. 

“Seth...me and Dean have been together since the Shield broke up. We don’t want it out in the world, that’s why we’ve been...that’s why we were trying-”

“To hide it.”

“Yeah.”

There was a long, quiet moment. 

“I’m not gonna tell anybody. I’m not-you guys don’t have to hide it around me, I won’t tell anyone, not even Hunter or Stephanie.”

“Dean probably won’t even like that I told you.”

“Probably not, but...I don’t-I’m happy for you guys, I don’t want you to feel like you can’t-like I’d use that against you or anything.”

“I was worried about that. I’ll tell you that straight up. One of the reasons we didn’t want people to know because we knew the Authority would use it against us.”

“Roman-I think you should still keep it a secret. I won’t tell anyone, but I know you’re right. They already want you two separated, if they knew about this, they’d try even harder to mess with you guys. I don’t…”

Seth wiped at his eyes. 

“I don’t want you guys hurt anymore than I’ve already hurt you.”

Roman frowned and moved closer, wrapping his arms around Seth and pulling him into a hug. 

“Hey-don’t worry about that, alright? We’ll be okay. No matter what they do, it won’t change what me and Dean have. They can try all they want but nothing’ll come between us. I...I appreciate you being honest about what their intentions are. I really do believe you don’t want that to happen to us, and-just like we don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Seth actually hugged him back, and Roman didn’t feel even a little bit of fear or worry like he’d thought he would. He rested his cheek against Seth’s hair, holding him for the first time in a long time. 

“Did...did you guys want-were you having feelings for each other when we were in the Shield?”

Roman smiled. 

“Yeah. We-even back in developmental, me and Dean...we had that-there was something different. I don’t think it was love until...probably a year ago. When you and-when you left, me and Dean just decided to say ‘fuck it’ and go for it. We were tired of waiting and trying to keep our feelings at bay.”

“Did...was I why you guys didn’t-”

“Oh, no, not at all-we knew you would be happy for us if we decided to enter a relationship. It was more...with the Shield and everything, with-what all of us were trying to do, focusing on wrestling and furthering our careers, we felt like it wouldn’t have worked, and…I guess there was a little worry that you would feel like a third wheel, and we didn’t want you to think we were trying to put you behind us or anything.”

“I...I probably would’ve thought that, honestly.”

Roman huffed out a quiet laugh, and Seth shifted a little in his arms, seemingly happy to just be held. 

“Well...thank you for being-thank you for being supportive now.”

Seth was silent for a long few minutes. 

“Hunter wanted me and Nikki to date.”

That was...a surprise. Roman rubbed his hand up and down Seth’s arm. 

“Really?”

“Yeah. Said-he wanted us to be like...a lesser power couple in the Authority. We went out a couple of times and traveled together sometimes-”

“I had no idea.”

“Cause it didn’t last long. Not that-she was great, and we had fun, but...she’s really not my type. We’re still friends-I guess we are, at least. I’m not sure how many friends I have.”

Roman sighed. 

“You have at least one.”

Seth pulled away and looked at Roman, his big brown eyes wide and unsure, and Roman smiled gently, trying to keep him calm. 

“Yes, I mean me. I’m still...this is still going to take a lot of work-and a lot of work specifically from you, but-I’m willing to call you my friend and start to work past this. I don’t know if Dean will want that or feel that, but if you need anything...if you need help getting out, I’m here for you.”

Seth’s lip started to wobble, and Roman’s eyes felt wet, and he pulled him close again, one hand cupping the back of Seth’s head. Dean would come back soon, and maybe he could talk about things with them, about becoming friends again, but they’d have to wait and see. 

\---

Roman was almost giddy going into the arena. He had only missed two house shows, but he really liked his job. He loved his job. He loved wrestling, even with the Authority bullshit. And he knew he’d likely be working with Dean tonight, and that made him happy. He and Dean and Seth had decided to just...stick together, the rest of the way to the next arena. Seth had taken a risk in ignoring Hunter’s calls, having instead spent the day-and-a-half drive laughing and joking and acting like the Seth Rollins they had known a year ago. 

And that’s why Roman was so worried about him. 

He’d told him before going in the arena that if he needed an escape to come find him and Dean, and they’d gone in at different times, having come up with a story if any of them were asked about where they’d been the past few days. Roman didn’t want for him to end up in trouble. He didn’t want for any of them to. Roman could only hope that things would turn out okay.

\---

Seth swallowed against the lump in his throat, bringing his hand up to his cheek. Hunter had never hit him before. Stephanie had never thrown things at him before. J&J were blocking the door and there was nowhere he could go. 

His face hurt. 

Hunter kneeled down and grabbed Seth’s chin-he didn’t even realize he’d been hit hard enough to get knocked down. Seth looked into Hunter’s eyes, frozen and more afraid than he’d ever been. 

“Remember who made you what you are today.”

Seth wondered what he was. Was he a good wrestler? Was he a good friend? Was he a good person? He’d agreed to ruin the two most important relationships in his life for the sake of bettering his career, but he really didn’t feel like that was happening. Sure, he had gotten some main event attention, but it wasn’t what he wanted or how he wanted it. He had liked being a good guy, with...with his brothers. They’d really changed things and made a difference here, and now he was making a difference by being a puppet for the Authority. 

He really hadn’t thought much about it when Hunter and Stephanie had started being really particular and controlling of him and his daily life. They had changed his diet and fitness routine, which had made sense to him; he could use fine-tuning and they were sure to get him the best help available. And they had, he had world-class trainers and nutritionists and then he’d had world-class clothes from the finest brands, a new car, a luxury apartment, he was flying on private jets everywhere and sometimes even had drivers to take him from town to town.

Looking back on all that now, in this moment, Seth wondered how he didn’t see the pattern. 

He stared back at Hunter and nodded. 

“I-I will. I’m sorry, I won’t-I won’t say anything like that again. I’m sorry.”

Stephanie sat down and sighed, rubbing her forehead. 

“I guess we need to hire someone to run your social media, too. Be appreciative of how much money we’re spending on you. We wouldn’t do that for anyone who wasn’t special.”

That word used to make him feel good. Seth really wanted to throw up, but if he did, they’d make him take two physicals and a blood test. 

“Go to your hotel room. You’re done here for the night. I’ll call and tell the hotel what your meal for the night is.”

Seth turned his eyes to the floor, not wanting to make any more eye contact with anyone in the room, and nodded.

“Don’t forget, you have a workout at five and a fitting with the tailor at nine.”

“I-I’ll be there.”

Hunter patted him on the side of the head-the side he hadn’t hit-and Seth stood on shaky legs, leaving to the locker room they’d given him. He silently packed and got everything together. He headed to the regular locker room without thinking about it, his hand hesitating at the door. 

Seth wasn’t quite sure if he should knock. If he should go find Dean and Roman and get help, if they were genuine about wanting to help him get out, though they’d never done anything terrible to him before. At least not before he’d hurt them. 

Seth knocked on the door. 

He was lucky, for once; Roman answered. His warm brown eyes went wide when he saw Seth, and he swore quietly, pulling Seth into the room and poking his head out to make sure he hadn’t been followed. Seth just stood there, his bags next to him, and he chewed on the inside of his lip, feeling awkward and terrible and like his face had gotten punched by a very strong man. 

“Shit-Dean, can you get a cold rag?”

Roman guided Seth to sit down and Seth followed, happy to feel a touch that wasn’t violent. Then Roman was pressing a cold rag to his face and he was suddenly back in reality. He felt tears at his eyes and sobbed, holding Roman’s wrists just to have something to ground him. 

“Hunter hit m-me-he’s never hit me before-Stephanie threw a vase at me-”   
It felt more real and more concrete in his head now that he’d said it out loud to them. He didn’t see how they reacted, but he could hear Roman inhale. 

“Seth-”

“I-I didn’t want you to be right, I wanted them to love me and-that’s why I was pushing back against you telling me the truth-”

“Seth, shh, don’t worry about that, I know-me and Dean both get it, you don’t have to explain-”

“You gonna leave ‘em?”

Dean was being blunt. Seth didn’t blame him for the lack of compassion in his voice, though there was an edge to it that Seth couldn’t define. He wiped at his nose with the back of his hand and nodded.

“Yeah. I don’t-I shouldn’t have let it get so far-I really-”

“Don’t worry. Roman’s right. We both get it, and you’re comin’ right out of them attacking you, so you need to save talking about it for later when you’re not-in fuckin’ crisis mode, alright? We’re gonna get you out of here.”

Seth managed to look at Dean. Losing that relationship...that had been hard. He and Dean had been friends in a different way than Seth had been friends with Roman, but there was never any doubt about the importance between the three of them being equal. When he’d struck Roman and seen Dean’s face, seen the shock and the dawning hurt and then every time after, having to see hate in Dean’s eyes, and for him now to be telling Seth that there was still a ‘we’ with the three of them-Seth would have thought he was dreaming, if it weren’t for the stinging pain in his jaw and the cold compressed on it, Roman’s wrist warm in his hand, the faint pulse against his fingers. 

It felt nice, in a weird way. 

“Can-can I stay with you guys again-”

“Absolutely.”

Roman’s answer was quick and Seth sat while they got their things ready to go, the three of them rushing out of the arena and to the car, Dean and Roman keeping a lookout the entire time. They had always looked out for each other. Seth wanted to look out for them again. They got in the car and hauled ass out of the arena, not even heading to the hotel they were supposed to stay at. Roman drove them two hours out to the next town, finding a tiny motel near a truck stop with vacancies available. Dean stayed in the car with Seth while Roman got them checked in. Seth swallowed, nervous still and paranoid and afraid. 

“Dean-I’m-I’m sorry, I-if you don’t ever wanna be friends again-that’s fine-but thank you for helping-”

“Even after all the shit you did to me, and to Roman, I don’t think you-I don’t think anyone deserves what you’re getting from them, and-it’s gonna take work from you and me learnin’ to let shit go, but-I want to help you. I-fucking hate it but I missed you and I wanted you back with us, and-”

Dean sighed, turning around in his seat to look at Seth. 

“-I want my friend back. I hate it cause you fucked me and Roman up really, really badly, but-it’s harder for me to be mad about that after finding out-everything.”

Roman came back to the car and they shuffled Seth inside quickly, and locked the door, shoving a chair under the doorknob. Roman scrubbed his hands over his face and brushed his hair back. 

“We can go get food in a little while. Shit.”

“Yeah.”

Seth bit at his lip.

“What do we do?”

“We keep you safe and away from those shitheads.”

Dean sat next to Seth on the bed and Roman leaned on the door. 

“We’re gonna go back to Tampa for a little while. You can stay there while me and Dean keep working. My family will be there and-trust me, the Authority can’t do shit to my family.”

Seth had trouble believing that, but considering just how big Roman’s family was and how important they were to the industry...if he was going to be safe anywhere, it was probably with them. They all just sat and took in the situation for a moment. Seth felt...terrified, but-there was a sense of freedom blooming in his chest. 

“I’m not-I’m not a part of the Authority anymore.”

Roman smiled at him, and Dean bumped his shoulder. 

“It’s good to say that to yourself out loud. It helps make it more real, saying things like ‘I’m safe’ and ‘I’m away from them’. You need to believe it. More you believe it, the less likely you are to get caught back up in their bullshit.”

Seth nodded, scooting a little closer to Dean. 

“Thank you. I’ll-I’m gonna try to-I don’t wanna go back but I know sometimes people do, so-yeah. I’ll try.”

“Let’s get something to eat. We can talk more about-about this plan and what we’re gonna do, and then you can get some rest.”

Seth wore a hat and a hoodie and a pair of Roman’s pants in an attempt to mask himself, and he was between Roman and Dean every second that they were at the truck stop getting food. He was surprised when he felt Dean’s arm around his shoulders, keeping him close. Surprised, but...happy. As happy as he could feel after what had happened with Hunter and Stephanie. The shift from being attacked by them to being surrounded by two men who wanted to help him and who made him feel good was drastic and he hadn’t realized how badly he needed that change. He needed them. 

Back in the room-which had two beds, because Roman was being more thoughtful than Seth thought he ever deserved to be on the receiving end of-Seth sat on his bed and Roman and Dean sat on the other, and Seth frowned. Dean was sitting weirdly far away from Roman. 

“Uh...Roman-did-did you...tell Dean about-when we talked?”

Dean looked confused and worried at that, and Roman sighed. 

“...no, I didn’t-”

“What’s he talking about?”

Roman swallowed and turned his body towards Dean, reaching out and gently laying his hand over Dean’s. 

“I...I told-Seth heard us, that night that we-were all stuck together, he heard us, and-I told him about us being together.”

It was a very, very tense few seconds before Dean responded. 

“That...you probably should have mentioned that before now.”

Roman’s head dropped, and he looked ashamed right when Dean spoke. 

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have-I know I should have, and I was going to, after a few days-I’m-”

“No, I-I know you would have told me, but-just kind of a sucker punch after hearin’ what happened tonight.”

Seth watched as Dean reached out and cupped Roman’s cheek, tilting his head back up. 

“I’m not really mad or anything, just-we’ve always been honest, since we started this, I don’t want that to change. Alright?”

Roman covered Dean’s hand with his, tilting his head into his palm. His eyes closed for a second and he just stopped for a moment, savoring it, and Seth couldn’t help but smile. It was the most they’d been affectionate in front of him in a long time. Roman opened his eyes and had the softest look on his face that Seth had ever seen on anyone. 

“Alright. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Seth ducked his head down, happy to hear that. He kind of hoped, in that moment, that he’d be lucky enough to find something like that. Someone. 

“Guess I can do this now, since he already knows-”

Dean leaned forward and pressed his lips to Roman’s, Roman melting into the touch, and Seth only glanced at them before turning away. He couldn’t really give them ‘privacy’, but he did want them to feel comfortable being themselves and being comfortable together. They only kissed for a minute, pulling away and Seth looked over to see a bright blush on both their faces. Seth settled onto the bed, eating his food, not reacting when Dean tossed a bunch of tiny candy bars his way. Roman laughed and they all watched tv, giving Seth a chance to calm down and feel good after the incident with the Authority. 

\---

It was not easy. For any of them. 

They still managed to work, and the reformation of the Shield had been well received by the fans; no one had really guessed that they would roll up to the arena together to fight the Authority, but there had been a hell of a pop. It felt good to be with his brothers again, to be with Roman and Dean, traveling with them, wrestling with them. Just generally being a family again. And in between the shows they ended up at, they stayed in Tampa with Roman’s family; he was enjoying spending time with so many people that were so invested and educated in the business he’d dedicated his life to. 

The food was also absolutely amazing. 

It was a little risky doing what they were about to do; Seth had spent so much time in NXT and it had been so important to him...he wanted to go back. Roman and Dean had been in NXT too, but not featured as prominently-sometimes Seth wondered if that should have been a warning sign. He’d been talking with Roman and Dean a lot about how the Authority had treated him, and he was realizing how deeply they ingrained their bullshit into him. He supposed it really had started by being the ‘golden child’ in NXT. Then he’d just been conditioned for the past few years. 

Roman sipped at his soda and smiled around his straw at the sight of Dean shoving popcorn into his mouth. They were sitting a few rows behind the front, wearing whatever they could to mask their identities, and Seth reached over and stole a handful of popcorn. 

“Hey! Told you to get your own-”

Seth grinned and shoved the whole handful into his mouth, his brows furrowing at the sight of Dean and Roman making surprised faces. He turned at the sound of someone sitting in the empty chair next to him, and his own eyes widened; the single most beautiful man he’d ever seen was sitting next to him. Seth swallowed as much of what was in his mouth as he could and Dean patted him on the back a few times. He coughed and wiped the back of his hand over his mouth, and the man smiled. 

“You alright?”

“Uh-y-hi. Hi. I’m-hello.”

“Nice to meet you, Hello.”

Seth blushed, ducking his head down. 

“I-sorry, I’m-Tyler. It’s nice to meet you.”

They’d decided to only introduce themselves to people under their indie names, while Roman used his birth name. It was easier, and Roman and Dean were ridiculously good actors when they needed to be, and no one had caught on yet. Seth held his hand out to the man, and he took it. 

“Finn.”

Finn smiled and Seth couldn’t help but giggle. He was so gorgeous. He had the clearest blue eyes Seth had ever seen and dark hair and that knockout smile, and Seth didn’t even look when he reached over and grabbed Dean’s bag of popcorn, holding it out to Finn. 

“Want some?”

Finn laughed and Seth felt like he was surrounded by butterflies. 

“No thank you, but that’s very sweet. Though I think your friend there has some protests.”

“Damn right I got protests, give me my damn snack back-”

Seth was still staring at Finn, unable to look away. He was unbelievable. 

“You ever been here before?”

“Kind of. This is my first time in the crowd.”

“Cool. Uh-I used to come all the time, but-yeah. First time back after a while.”

Finn smiled and Seth sucked in a breath when Finn moved just a little bit closer. 

“I hope I can be good company for your comeback.”

“H-yeah-you’re-yeah. You seem like-yeah.”

The show went on and Seth didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to the in-ring action, focused almost entirely on talking to Finn; he learned he was from Ireland and had come here after living in Japan-apparently he’d been a wrestler over there, Seth should have known from the absolutely insane body on the guy, and Finn was just checking out the wrestling world in America. Seth couldn’t even tell you what was so captivating about him, something just was. At one point, their bodies were turned almost entirely towards each other, wrapped up in their own little world. A timer went off on Finn’s phone.

“Ah-excuse me for a moment-”

Seth watched as Finn stood and took off his jacket and the baseball cap he had on, running towards the barricade and hopping it, and Seth blinked a few times. He wasn’t being stopped by security-

Oh. 

“Uh...did that dude you’ve been flirting with-is he a wrestler?”

“I-I guess-”

Seth watched Finn move in the ring; graceful, fluid, intense. He easily took down Kevin Owens, and it hit Seth that Finn was apparently the challenger for the NXT title. That...hadn’t been what he’d expected. Maybe he should have kept up with NXT more diligently. Finn held up the belt and the crowd exploded, they were in love with him, and Seth was just...in awe.

“Hey-we should get out of here-”

“Wait-I wanna-”

“I heard someone say Hunter is backstage, we gotta get out of here-”

Seth stood and stared at Finn for a minute, catching his gaze, even all the way from the ring. He waved goodbye and Finn smiled, and Seth would have stared longer if it weren’t for Dean grabbing his hand and pulling him away. 

Seth thought a lot about Finn that night.

\---

The Authority was gone. 

It happened so fast that the Shield couldn’t even really enjoy it; a riot of the talent against them and suddenly there was a new, hopefully unbiased general manager for both Raw and Smackdown, and Seth felt. Weird. It didn’t feel real, really, the idea that the people who hurt him couldn’t hurt him anymore. He knew Vince was still ultimately in charge, him being the higher power in the WWE as he was, but he was mostly happy to let things go as they may now. Of course, luck being what it was, Seth had gotten hurt. 

Not badly, not in a career-ending way, but he was hurt nonetheless. He was stuck down in Tampa, in a hospital bed, having just gotten surgery on his knee. 

“Mister Rollins? You have a visitor.”

Seth blinked and sat up-Roman and Dean had been by earlier, they’d been a lifesaver during this whole process, but he wasn’t expecting anyone else. He’d called his mom and step-dad earlier that morning, too. The nurse opened the door and in walked...Finn Balor. Seth’s eyes went wide and he sat up more, swallowing and blushing immediately; Finn was NXT champion, he was a big deal, and he was in Seth’s hospital room for some reason. 

“Hey, Tyler.”

Seth ducked his head down, blushing and laughing. 

“Uh...yeah, sorry about that-I was kinda in hiding at the time.”

Finn sat in the chair next to the bed, smiling and shaking his head.

“Trust me, I understand. I had kind of assumed it was you, but I hadn’t wanted to blow your cover.”

Seth grinned.    
“Thanks for that.”

Finn’s smile flattened a little. 

“How...how are you feeling now?”

“I’m...alright. There’s-I’ve never had an injury like this before, a serious one-I’m gonna be out of action for-shit, I think six months?”

Finn winced. 

“I’m sorry. That happened to me in Japan-I hope you heal well and quickly.”

Seth smiled and felt a very soft sort of feeling. Finn made him feel a lot of things he hadn’t felt in a long time. 

“Thanks. I...uh-it’s-it’s really, really good to see you.”

“I’m happy to be here, Seth.”

Seth swallowed. 

“I know you got-I know you’ve probably got a lot on your plate right now, being champ and everything, but-do you...if you happen to be in Tampa for-any length of time...do you wanna come over? We could-have dinner or something.”

A beautiful pink blush came to Finn’s cheeks, and he ducked his head down, looking up at Seth through his dark lashes. 

“I’d like that. I’ve got quite a few days off this month, if-I’d like that a lot.”

Seth couldn’t stop the grin on his face if his life depended on it. 

\---

Dean sighed, running his fingers over the bare skin of Roman’s shoulder. He smiled down at his love; Roman was so cute and sweet, all cuddled up to Dean’s side, quietly sleeping. Dean took a second to just...look at Roman. He truly was the best thing to ever happen to Dean’s life. More than wrestling, more than the Shield, more than anything, Roman was the thing that made Dean feel like his life had a purpose. Like he was here for something. He loved Roman through good times and bad and a lot of hurt and a lot of everything, and Roman loved him back. Dean reached up with his other hand and gently traced his fingertip along the beautiful lines of Roman’s face; he looked like he was carved from stone. 

Roman shifted against him, blinking warm, dark eyes open, and Dean smiled. 

“Hey, sweetheart. Sorry if I woke you.”

Roman smiled and hid his face against Dean’s chest. 

“‘s okay. What time’s it?”

“About two-thirty.”

“You slept yet?”

“No. Not tired.”

Dean kissed the top of Roman’s head and Roman hummed, snuggling closer. 

“Got a flight tomorrow. Need to get some rest.”

“I know, I will. Go back to sleep, Ro.”

Roman tilted his head up and stuck his lips out. 

“Kisses.”

Dean laughed and cupped Roman’s jaw, rubbing his thumb over the stubble there, and he kissed Roman over and over again, until Roman wiggled and grinned and pulled away. 

“Thank you. Love you, baby.”

“Love you too.”

Roman laid his head on Dean’s chest and Dean went back to petting him and touching him softly until his breathing evened out. His phone vibrated against the nightstand and Dean grabbed it, answering it. He knew it was Seth before he answered, no one else but Seth, Roman, and his mom called him.

“Hey.”

‘Hey.’

“How’s the knee?”

Dean kept his voice quiet, softly covering Roman’s ear. 

‘Doing alright. Hurts like a bitch, but-uh...Finn’s been coming over, couple of times a week.’

Dean grinned. 

“Bet that’s helping you feel better.”

‘Shut up...but yeah, it really has. He’s-he’s really great, Dean, and-’

“Aww, sounds like someone’s in love-”

‘I’m not in love, I just...I like him. A lot.’

Dean’s grin softened and he sighed. 

“Good. You deserve something good like that.”

‘You guys doing okay?’

“Yeah. Flying back tomorrow. Guess we’ll see you then.”

‘I’ll get the house cleaned up.’

“Don’t worry about it. Me and Ro are used to a mess.”

‘You sound like you need to sleep, dude.’

Dean yawned, and Seth laughed. 

‘Knew it.’   
“Hush. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

‘Night.’

“Night.”

Dean hung up and sighed, closing his eyes and stroking his fingers through Roman’s hair. He thought about Seth. They’d all decided to live together for the time being; Roman and Dean’s apartment had a second bedroom anyway, so they’d just taken Seth when...all this started. It had been a lifesaver for Seth after his injury, too-God. That had pissed Dean off. Seth didn’t need a serious injury after the shit with the Authority. 

What a goddamn couple of months it had been. 

The stress had wracked all three of them, but at the end of the day...Dean was happy. He hadn’t really-even with how absurdly, overwhelmingly happy Roman made him, what had happened to the Shield the previous June had fucked Dean up pretty severely. He had been thrust back into a time in his life that he never wanted to revisit. But unlike that time, things improved and the people involved got better. Dean had thought he and Seth would never speak again, let alone be friends. Friends who live together and travel together and talk in the middle of the night. He always had a part of his heart that cared about Seth, even after the betrayal, but the past few months had healed the hurt. There were still some times where he’d flinch away from Seth, but Seth understood that and never made it a problem. Hell, Seth was having his own problems. They had to institute a rule about not yelling at the tv because it made Seth panic. 

They were all working on a lot of things. But they were working together, and Dean couldn’t be happier. He had his family again.


End file.
